Election Day

This past Sunday marked a big day here in Panama – Election Day. One of the first weeks that I was here in the country, one of the political parties (can’t remember which) was having there primary that day. Since I was new to the country and really unaware of my surroundings, the event passed without me noticing much. This time, it was a totally different story.

For starters, my house is located right by the school, which was the place for voting. So you might say that I was in the ‘eye of the storm’. While this is true, I kept my distance from the events. Opting instead to only peak outside every once in a while to see the ongoing proceedings.

And there were quite a bit of happenings through the day. It all started around 7am when people started to funnel towards the center of the action. By 10am, it looked it there was going to be a day long party. People everywhere. Coolers and drinks. Some tarps for shade. Looking around it felt more like a Saturday September tailgate than Election Day.

The good spirits of the day took a turn around midday when the clouds started to darken. Eventually, they opened up and there was a steady rain. First time I’ve seen prolonged rain here since the beginning of December. Of course, it had to be a day when I did some laundry, but there are worse things in life, I suppose.

Eventually the rain let up around 5pm and the polls closed, but the people remained until around 10pm as the votes were being tallied. Around 11pm I called it a night, with all the excitement gone. Or at least I thought so.

At 1am, I was awakened by the sounds of horns honking. In a groggy state, I thought maybe it was an air drill raid leftover from the Noriega days. But I quickly came to senses when a few seconds later, fireworks started to go off. This all at 1am. I’m not lying. Eventually, the cars went further down the road and the sounds became fainter. I guessed Ricardo Martinelli was declared the winner in the race for president and I fell back to sleep.

The event marked a new era in Panama politics as this is the first time a person from Cambio Democrático party has been elected President. With some certain changes to the country coming, I’m just glad the late night horn honking and fireworks are here to stay. I need a little stability in my life.